Beyond the signature kangaroo or koala, did you know that Australia is also home to a wide range of lesser-known and somewhat bizarre-looking species such as the spotted handfish or the southern hairy-nosed wombat? With astounding habitats including Barrow Island, the Great Barrier Reef, and the outback, we thought we would take the opportunity to highlight just some of the unique species found in this spectacular land!

Weedy wader

The leafy seadragon is endemic to Australia, meaning it is found nowhere else on Earth. Living in shallow coastal waters, these slow-moving creatures call underwater seagrass meadows home, blending in perfectly due to their leaf-like appendages.

King croc

The largest of all crocodilians, the saltwater crocodile roams both the land and sea. By using its powerful tail and webbed hind feet, this species is an effective aquatic predator. The saltwater crocodile feasts on large land animals such as wallabies, dingoes, and even humans!

The face of climate change

Found only in northern Australia, the lemuroid ringtail possum may become Australia’s first victim of global climate change. Being unable to withstand temperatures over 86°F (30°C), this species is extremely vulnerable to heatwaves, which are expected to increase in frequency as the climate changes. In fact, a heatwave in 2005 was thought to have wiped out the entire population until a few individuals were finally discovered in 2009.

Misunderstood marsupial

Known for its frightening nocturnal screeches, the Tasmanian devil is the largest of the carnivorous marsupials. Contrary to its savage reputation, the Tasmanian devil is actually quite shy and is only aggressive when feeling threatened or when in competition with other devils.

Snack and swim

Strictly feeding on plants, the dugong is often referred to as the ‘sea cow’, but it is actually more closely related to elephants than cows! Found off the coast of northern Australia, the dugong uses its flexible upper lip to rip whole plants apart, leaving ‘feeding trails’ on the sea floor. What a messy eater!

Water-free wallaby

Found throughout Australia, the black-footed wallaby lives its life in groups of 10 to 100 individuals. Found primarily in rock piles and granite outcrops, this wallaby feasts mostly on grasses and fruit, and, interestingly, obtains nearly all of its water through its food.

Burrow builder

An expert digger, the southern hairy-nosed wombat is able to construct burrows that support a constant inside temperature of 78°F in the summer and 57.2 °F in the winter. These burrows are often formed as networks of up to thirty meters long that can host five to ten wombats.

Smooth sailing

The softly furred sugar glider uses the membrane along its body to glide distances of up to 150 feet between trees. This agile possum also has a rather distinctive alarm call, which is said to resemble a yapping dog!

Cultural croaker

Found only in the northern Australian Alps and the Australian Capital Territory, the northern corroboree frog has a local cultural story attached to its name. ‘Corroboree’ is an aboriginal word used to describe a gathering, where traditionally attendees are adorned with brightly colored yellow markings similar to those of this frog.

Aquatic ambler

A fish with ‘hands’ that can walk the ocean floor? It’s true! The spotted handfish, one of the world’s most endangered fish, is able to use its characteristic ‘hand-like’ fins to walk the sea floor, occasionally sucking on prey like shrimp and small fish. Threatened by development, a restricted distribution and a low reproductive rate, the spotted handfish population may be restored in the future through successful re-introduction programs.

If you’re looking to continue your ‘walkabout’ around Australia on ARKive, check out the new Barrow Island topic page or search the 1,200+ Australian species on ARKive today. Feel free to share your favorite Aussie species in the comments below!

We’ve recently added some fantastic images to ARKive from one of our new media donors, Heath Holden, and we jumped at the opportunity to hear a little more from Heath about his work.

Can you tell us about yourself and give us a bit of a run down on your photographic background?

Hi! I’m Heath Holden, I work as a freelance photographer and photojournalist for various clients around Tasmania and also interstate. I started out shooting photos of my friends riding BMX and a few landscapes when we went away on trips to the USA, Canada etc… there is so much beauty out there in this world. I guess it all snowballed from there wanting to take better shots and learn more about the art. My first real photography job was for a daily newspaper here in north west Tasmania, The Advocate. I worked here for about 18 months covering news, sport, features etc. During this time I learnt a lot about photography, those little tricks and techniques I’ll never forget. Work slowed a bit when the financial crisis hit town, I had some choices to make and left Tasmania for a staff job with Wildlife Reserves Singapore (parent company of the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari and now River Safari) as the in-house photographer, documenting all the zoological procedures which were then sent out for editorial use around S.E Asia. I also worked with the advertising and promotions department shooting the work for campaigns and other commercial needs, image archiving, educational content etc…

My work is represented by Lonely Planet Images, (which is now handled by Getty Images).

Your recent contribution to ARKive’s collection contained some fresh Tasmanian devil images, how did you come about the idea of photographing Tasmanian devils like this?

I had the idea while still living in Singapore, I knew I would leave once my contract was finished so I started to think of meaningful photography projects which were unique and technically challenging, and the Tasmanian devil came to mind straight away. It’s very unique and also facing a challenging future due to the facial tumour disease spreading. After searching the internet and various photo libraries for Tasmanian devil images which were shot purely in the wild (this was an important factor to me) under natural conditions (no bait) which had some kind of wow factor, I found very little. This was it, I knew I had to do it!

Sounds like quite a learning process! What’s been the biggest hurdle in this project?

Well… hurdles huh, how much time do we have? I shot an email to an old friend who is a zoologist and works with devils, told him my idea and he said I’d need to use camera traps, basically no other way to do it. I had no idea about these at all or where to look! The bag of worms was about to open… (Internet search then fast forward a bit). Studying videos of snow leopards and tigers being documented with camera traps, I started breaking them down to get some kind of idea of equipment and techniques used by others. I soon bought some infra-red sensors/triggers and the hunt for the more gear began! There have been many little hurdles along the way, waterproofing, locking, sync cables and splitters for multiple flashes, flash misfires and dead batteries… I eventually worked out which flashes to use saving me lugging a load of batteries out every morning to fill the battery packs, 12 AAs! That gets tiring, also there is this fancy cable I need to get which will hopefully solve the problem of missing the first shot while the flash comes to life. Lighting is very important with this project, Tasmanian devils being nocturnal almost never wander around in daylight so it’s always crucial for the flashes to work when I want them to. Generally the issues are getting smaller the further I go and I’m feeling very in control of the setup now, in the beginning I would setup and think “oh I hope it works” but now I know it will work. I used to be a mechanic for about 6 years so I feel fairly handy when it comes to making housings for my cameras and strobes. I have a buddy who’s a great sheet metal worker and welder, he whipped up a couple of alloy boxes for me which I then crafted into a nice housing to fit mid range DSLR cameras and 14mm lens.

Are there any projects in the pipeline, or species you’d like to focus on in the future?

Definitely, I’ll be working on more projects all the time to grow my portfolio and skills to the highest possible level. The aim of my work is to create unique images of wildlife and nature which stand out from what people have already seen, in terms of new angles, techniques and overall image quality. I want readers to be stunned with amazement! My devil work as an example – yes, there are plenty of scientists and organisations here camera trapping, but they’re only using the basic trail cam setups which really are no good for reproduction at an editorial level, that’s where the skills of a photographer come in to play, to UP the quality for the show, not just for monitoring purposes. As for species, I’d like to do some work on the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle, this is a sub-species, but larger than the more common wedge-tailed eagle. These birds are huge with a possible wingspan of over 2 metres, and they are wise, getting close is very tough! I like a challenge so this could be the next one.

What role do you think wildlife photography can play in conservation?

Wildlife photography is extremely important in conservation and awareness now, and it is getting more important every day, it really is the only voice the animals have. Photography helps raise public awareness in visual ways that scientific data can’t, it triggers emotion and a direct connection. We need to be smart in the way we use natural resources and find a healthy balance, we can all live on this planet but we need to look after it and not let money, greed and endless corporate growth drive everything to self destruction.